


Doctor Dates

by IceboundEmu



Category: LoveLink (Video Game)
Genre: A reimagining of Alex's date, Date Night, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 10:48:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30020625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceboundEmu/pseuds/IceboundEmu
Summary: Ryan met Jonathan and fell in love.Escorting Ryan to a date Daniel ran into Alex.  He's left to deal with the consequences.
Relationships: Alex Frederik/Daniel Anderson, Jonathan Hayes/Ryan Byrne
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just something I had to write out, as Daniel and Alex in a shower together is something that has been bouncing around in my mind since Firebirdie94 and I first started discussing it (I'm not sure who suggested it, but it became something of a running thing) so this is my attempt to write it out of my system.
> 
> Read and enjoy, questions and comments welcome

Really it was Jonathan’s fault that Daniel’s path had ever crossed with Alex’s.

If he’d known at the time the chance meeting would result in him standing half naked in the middle of a busy club, whilst the object of his affections decorated him in front of a crowd of people, he would probably have fled the encounter screaming. Sadly, Daniel had yet to develop any such useful ability, therefore stood wondering why he simultaneously felt the chill of the air against his bare flesh whilst worrying he might spontaneously burst into flames.

Scratch that, it was Ryan’s fault he was in this current predicament, though his college friend would probably provide an equally justifiable argument that this was all of Daniel’s doing, considering he’d only ventured onto Lovelink at Daniel’s behest. If he’d never been pressured into joining Lovelink he would never have met Jonathan, if he’d never met Jonathan then there would have been no reason to be rushing to the coffee shop to meet him, if Daniel hadn’t gone with Ryan to the coffee shop to make sure he made it there in one piece then he’d have never run into Alex in the first place.

Quite literally, because he’d turned to shout at Ryan to hurry up, he hadn’t been looking as he pushed open the door, therefore hadn’t noticed someone was already exiting the premises and walked smack bang into them, spilling what turned out (thankfully) to be a lukewarm cup of coffee over the both of them. As he’d struggled to his feet, spluttering apologies even as Ryan stifled his giggles behind him, he’d been struck dumb as he made eye contact.

There was no two ways about it, the man he’d crashed into was the textbook definition of gorgeous. Smouldering brown eyes met his gaze unflinchingly, even as the dark-skinned man broke into a wicked grin, pushing himself back to his feet as he waved off the hand Daniel finally managed to hold out in a lame offer of assistance. Suddenly Daniel was aware he was the object of intense scrutiny, subjected to a visual inspection that left him feeling naked and exposed, despite the layers he’d worn to ward off the winter chill. He was dimly aware of Ryan pushing past him to get into the building and meet his boyfriend, which had the effect of causing him to invade the stranger’s personal space as he offered no resistance to the shove Ryan moved him with. Aware of their sudden proximity he went to instinctively take a step back, at which point his arm was captured in a firm grip, preventing the movement.

Twisting he realised he’d just been preventing from backing into an old lady, who was eying him suspiciously as though he was going to attack her. She then jostled her way past, knocking him off balance as she jarred quite purposefully into him. The stranger frowned at the action he’d witnessed, but offered no further comment, allowing Daniel to grasp his arm gratefully as he steadied himself.

“So, do you knock most people off their feet when you first meet them?”

Daniel blinked at the question, before a light dawned in the fog of his incomprehension and he realised the question was being directed at him.

“I…er…sorry…”

The man chuckled at his less than eloquent response to the query, a rich, deep tone, that made Daniel feel like he’d swallowed a flock of butterflies. He didn’t doubt for a second this man knew how nervous he was feeling, but he appeared to be enjoying it, if the smirk was anything to go by.

“I think you owe me something for wasting my coffee.”

The sudden change in conversation threw Daniel, who was envious the man could project such an infuriating aura of self-confidence when his own thoughts were so scrambled.

“I could buy you another one?”

He hazarded an offer, feeling his face burn as the man burst into laughter.

“I was kind of hoping you might be up to sharing one with me. I’m Alex by the way. You are?”

How had they managed to start a conversation without introducing themselves? Daniel once again found his thought had been jolted in another direction, before realising he should probably string together a response before Alex wrote him off as damaged goods.

“I’m Daniel. I’d love to share a coffee with you, I mean buy us both one each, not that we need to share one coffee.”

Great, the awkward had kicked in and he’d developed Ryan’s habit of rambling to try and cover his nerves. Alex still looked amused by the entire situation, though he stopped Daniel as he went to push open the door.

“Seriously, I just brought that coffee from them and it wasn’t even hot enough to hurt when I ended up wearing it. I’ve got a perfectly functional coffee machine at home?”

The inflection at the end of the statement indicated coffee might not be all that was on offer. Not trusting his voice Daniel found himself nodding in agreement, at which Alex slipped an arm around his waist, steering him in the direction he wanted him to go.

Coffee had led to discussion and discussion had led to Daniel somehow allowing himself to be convinced to play model for Alex. Thus, he found himself in his current situation, all eyes in the club seeming to be on him as Alex used him as a living canvas. He’d kept his gaze fixed on the far wall, trying to dissociate himself from the embarrassment he felt whilst fervently preying that no one he knew was in the club to witness this. He’d been especially careful not to mention his destination to Ryan, who would have taken it as an invitation to turn up and get photographic evidence to use as blackmail, lest Daniel show any of the snaps he’d gathered in the past to Jonathan. Daniel could only hope nothing kicked off at the lab, he’d left his phone in Alex’s bag, not that he had anywhere to hide it, being clad only in boxer briefs.

Alex was currently engrossed in decorating his legs, if the warm puffs of air he could feel on his thighs were anything to go by. Alex had muttered something about marine life when Daniel had wondered aloud, earlier in the evening, what he was choose as a theme, though the brush strokes he could feel did not give him an idea on the creatures Alex was currently decorating his legs with. He didn’t dare move his head to watch, Alex had been emphatic that he expected his models to remain still whilst he worked and had even gone as far as to apologise in advance if he became short tempered or bossy, though Daniel seemed to have avoided rousing his ire.

Then, without warning, Alex rose to his feet, stepping back to study his work, liking what he saw if the smile he broke into was anything to go by. The air was suddenly lit with camera flashes, and Daniel realised that the audience were immortalising the work for future reference. The thought that there would be people there to take pictures had never crossed his mind when he’d agreed, and Alex must have picked up on his sudden distress, as he moved to draw Daniel close so he could murmur in his ear.

“Don’t worry, they’ll crop your head from any publicity photos they use…they’re really only interested in you from the neck down.”

As reassuring as that might have been meant to sound Daniel couldn’t help but feel his ego had been bruised a little by the insinuation. The hurt must have showed on his face, Alex sighed softly a pressed an apologetic kiss against his cheek.

“Let’s get you cleaned up, shall we?”

Alex continued to murmur in his ear, motioning that Daniel should step off the podium he was standing on and follow him towards the non-descript door they’d entered the club through. Daniel followed wordlessly, aware of the gazes of some of the other patrons and wondering what thoughts they were having.

The dressing room was brightly lit compared to the gloom on the dance floor, Alex’s bag lay in the corner where he’d left it, Daniel watched as he returned the paint kit to it, wrapping it so the contents didn’t leak and damage the other contents of the bag, the clothes Daniel had worn to the club included in that. Without prompting Alex offered him his mobile to check, Daniel was relieved to see no one had attempted to call him. Though Ryan had promised to cover the emergency line to free Daniel up for the evening if something went seriously wrong at the lab it wasn’t unusual for everyone to receive a call summoning them to attend.

The room had a mirror and Daniel studied his reflection as Alex continued to root in his bag, withdrawing items and placing them into an orderly pile as he deemed them necessary to the clean-up operation. He’d asked Daniel to bring his preferred toiletries to the flat to use, assured him the paint he used was hypo-allergenic and water soluble so no harsh chemicals would be needed to remove it from his skin. He’d even gone as far as to point out that the paint he sourced was Vegan, and not tested on animals, at which point Daniel had felt it wise to point out in his line of lab work there was an element of animal testing that had to be carried out, which he’d been concerned was a deal breaker if Alex put in that much effort when sourcing paint.

The admission from Daniel had led to an interesting discussion on viable alternatives, though Alex admitted he wasn’t happy that it was happening, he was also broad minded enough to move past it, despite what little information Daniel could give him about what his work entailed. They’d moved onto safer subjects, more generalised subjects following that.

Looking at the artwork that currently decorated his skin Daniel had to admit it was disappointing to ruin such amazing work so quickly after Alex had created it, but he supposed the fleeting nature of body painting was what made it so special. Alex had pointed out the mural on the wall that he’d been commissioned to create, so he knew that his partner had talent for what he did, but somehow, he’d not translated that onto what Alex could create on the medium of skin. He’d already picked out his favourite fish, and angel fish of some kind that was captured swimming across his stomach, the colours vibrant in the normal light of the room but done in a paint that glowed under UV. He felt a brief flutter of regret he hadn’t thought to check out the effect on the floor of the club to appreciate it fully.

“You’ll see it in the photos taken…”

Alex had snuck up on his without warning and Daniel bit back a yelp of shock at the sudden intrusion into his thoughts and Alex’s almost supernatural ability to guess what he was thinking.

“I just…”

Unsure how to finish the thought Daniel found himself trailing off, causing Alex to chuckle at his lack of eloquence, before the artist stepped ahead of him, capturing his right hand and using it to tug Daniel into following him through another door, where he found himself standing in a small, but surprisingly clean bathroom.

“Expecting chipped tiles and stained fixtures?”

Alex grinned as Daniel nodded, before continuing.

“It used to be like that when the place was less…salubrious, but the new owners ripped out a refurbished everything when they took over, they like taking care of their artists.”

Daniel took it all in dumbly, not trusting his voice, though he broke his silence quickly when he realised Alex was beginning to strip out of his paint-stained clothes.

“What are you doing?!”

It came out more sharply that he’d intended, more of a yelp, though Alex didn’t seem bothered by his response, instead offering him a smile and an explanation.

“You’re going to need a hand to get the paint off…unless you’re a contortionist as well as a scientist?”

Something about his tone indicated Alex would be amused by any sort of admission that he was, But Daniel shook his head emphatically as he sought to cover his embarrassment that he appeared to have overthought the situation, till he caught the heat in Alex’s expression as he went to remove the one barrier to his complete nudity and realised that assisting in cleaning him up might not be the only thing on Alex’s mind. He was certainly giving Daniel a close scrutinization again, monitoring his responses, both conscious and unconscious, not oblivious it seemed to the effect he was having. Daniel forced his voice to work, hoping that the words would come out and not die in his throat as a strangled croak.

“Is that all this is? Or?”

He let the question hang, unsure how to end it without causing offence.

“How far do you want it to go?”

Alex returned the question back to him, so Daniel took that as a green light to press further and put some boundaries in place.

“I don’t know what this is?”

The admission was out in the open, it was far too early in their association to assume Alex had any interest in him beyond a canvas and a one-night stand, though he’d be disappointed if that were his only intention, it wasn’t something that Daniel was looking for.

“What would you like it to be?”

Having been raised on the basis it was rude to answer a question with a question Daniel was forced to remind himself that this wasn’t always the case when it came to relationships. Both of them were being wary of being the first to lay their cards on the table.

“I don’t do one-night stands and I’m not big on sex on first dates, hell, I didn’t think I would be up to sharing a shower so soon, but…just keep your hands above my waist, okay?”

Daniel studied Alex’s expression as he spoke, anxious to gauge the man’s response to the words. Unfortunately, Alex appeared to have a better poker face than Daniel did, and betrayed little of what he was actually thinking, until he spoke again.

“I can respect that, I’m looking for something meaningful too, had enough of one-night stands. Can I kiss you? Not whilst we’re in the shower, but now?”

He must have seen Daniel open his mouth to refuse and followed his line of thought to realise what Daniel thought he was suggesting and expanded on his request to make it clearer. Lost for words again Daniel found himself nodding his assent, forcing himself to stay still as Alex approached, where he braced himself before Alex gently pressed their lips together in a brief, chaste contact. He then pulled away to fiddle with the controls for the shower, which turned on with a surprisingly powerful spray of water, which heated up quickly if the steam that began to rise was anything to go by. Stepping out of his underwear and avoiding Alex’s eye Daniel quickly stepped under the hot jets, angling his face into the torrent of water and languishing in the heat against his skin, eyes closed as he felt Alex step in behind him and pull the shower door shut behind him. Even though he was aware of the presence behind him he still jumped as Alex rested his hands on his shoulders, causing the other man to murmur noises of comfort in his ear as he saw the reaction his touch had evoked.

“Want me to wash your hair?”

Daniel nodded at the question, eyes still shut he concentrated on the pounding of the water against his upturned face, willing his heart to stop the frantic pounding beat that that it had taken up in protest at the close proximity of another human being whilst he felt so vulnerable. Alex was fiddling with something behind him, one of the bottles obviously as Daniel suddenly felt him shift position, followed by fingers being threaded though his short brown hair and the reassuring, familiar scent of his own shampoo. 

Alex seemed to enjoy taking care of partners, or so Daniel assumed as strong fingers massaged his scalp and he resisted to impulse to moan at the pleasure it invoked. He could feel it encouraging him to relax and lower his guard, when all too soon it was gone, and Daniel found himself compelled by Alex to tip his head forward to wash the soapy residue from his hair. Trying to not to whine in disappointment at the loss, he hazarded a glance over his shoulder to find Alex was shampooing his own hair, working it into a lather before realising Daniel was watching and gesturing for him to move aside so that he could duck his own head under the water to rinse it clean.

“Want to wash yourself first and I can help with the bits you miss?”

It was a little different to what they’d discussed outside of the shower, however Daniel figured that just meant Alex was giving him the option to indicate where he didn’t mind being touched, and nodded his assent, taking the bottle of shower gel that Alex offered and squeezing it into his hands, before bending to start on his legs, watching the paint slew away from his skin and circle down the drain. Once he was happy that the paint had washed away entirely, he repeated the same motions on his chest and forearms, before pausing.

“Can you help with my back?”

Daniel figured Alex was waiting for him to indicate he was ready, which he appreciated, Alex made a noise of assent, applying those same strong fingers against his back, massaging the muscles even as he worked to remove the remainder of the paint that had covered his skin, his touch lingering perhaps slightly longer than it needed to. 

Then Alex withdrew again, pushing the shower door open so that Daniel could step out into the cooler air of the bathroom and snag himself a towel, whilst Alex stepped under the spray of water and began washing himself of the grime he’d accumulated during the evening, before he manipulated the controls of the shower to kill the water flow and stepped out, shuddering bodily at the temperature change before grabbing his own towel and wrapping it securely around his waist.

“Like what you see?”

Daniel felt his face heat as he caught Alex’s eye and realised that he’d been caught staring. Alex laughed as his horror must have been reflected in his expression, blowing a kiss in his direction.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…well, maybe just a little?”

After all, he was only human, and Alex was by no means a chore to look at. 

The smirk he earned for his admission made his heart leap with happiness as well.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonathan and Ryan, and some fluffiness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my favourite pairings to put together as these two just work well for me.
> 
> The concept of them having a date night together and both just being dorks in love makes me happy, and I like to write what makes me happy.

“I’m so sorry I’m late!!!”

Jonathan couldn’t help but smile as Ryan crashed through the front door, it was so typical of Ryan to start any of their time together apologising for missing the time he was supposed to arrive, but Jonathan had learnt early in their relationship that punctuality wasn’t his boyfriend’s strong suit. Still, the fact he took the time to apologise meant something, even if it was completely unnecessary. If Ryan turned up on time, he’d probably have to pick Jonathan up from the floor the shock would be so great.

“What’s five minutes between friends?”

Greeting the breathless red head with a quick peck on the cheek Jonathan turned back to the kitchen and the sauce he’d been stirring, turning the heat down so it could reduce on a slow simmer. He hadn’t made any plans for a fancy dinner (not by his standard), but Ryan was something of a pasta nut, so any pasta and garlic bread combination would meet with his approval, plus Jonathan had pushed the boat out to make Black Forest Gateau for dessert, Ryan would appreciate the chocolate element and he would get the pairing with cherry that he delighted in.

“I’d rather hoped by now I was further in than the friend category?”

Jonathan would have been stupid if he’d missed the tiny twinge of anxiety that coloured Ryan’s apparently light-hearted response and could have kicked himself. Acknowledging it head on would only embarrass Ryan, so he took the only other option, to continue the joke.

“Friends with benefits then?”

He got a cushion thrown at the back of his head for that one. For someone so uncoordinated Ryan could be surprisingly accurate with projectiles when he wanted to be. Jonathan feigned injury, even as Ryan laughed at his melodrama.

“I should have known you only wanted me for my body.”

Jonathan regarded the young doctor with a calculating smirk, as it dawned on Ryan what he’d just said and what he’d opened himself up to.

“I also wanted you for your brains…your lovely, juicy brains…”

Knowing Ryan’s dislike of zombies from their disastrous first movie Jonathan drew the sentence into a long moan, holding out his arms in front of him and adopting a classic zombie shuffle towards him, trying not to laugh as Ryan squealed and pelted him with the remaining cushions from the sofa. Once he’d run out of ammunition Ryan dropped to the sofa in a submissive position, shrieking further as Jonathan dropped onto him and took the opportunity to drop sloppy kisses on his neck, whilst simultaneously attacking the spots in which he knew Ryan was ticklish, nearly earning himself a knee to the stomach as Ryan squirmed to escape.

“No…mercy! Please! No zombies!”

Jonathan paused, giving himself and Ryan time to catch breath before he launched a further assault. This time Ryan managed to grab a handful of his blonde hair to stop the attack on his neck, though he still giggled helplessly as Jonathan’s fingers danced along his sides.

“Are you sorry?”

He spoke the words with a smile, stopping again to allow Ryan to calm and breathe, feeling Ryan loosen his grip on his hair so that he could free his hand to wipe away the tears of laughter that had formed.

“Sorry I let you learn my ticklish spots? Yes. Sorry I implied you spend far too much time with your hands on me to get some more touching? No…No! Not tickling!”

The hasty addition to Ryan’s comment was as he noticed Jonathan poised to attack again, Ryan drew his knees up in defence. Jonathan chuckled at his antics, before pushing gently at his knee to encourage him to lower them again so he could pull his boyfriend into a seated position and claim his lips in a kiss. Ryan complied willingly, parting his lips so that Jonathan could deepen the kiss, wrapping his arms around Jonathan’s neck to prolong the contact.

The need to breathe finally caused them to break apart, Ryan blushing at their proximity, Jonathan feeling the heat in his own cheeks as he studied the freckles that decorated his boyfriend’s cheeks and nose and how the redness of his face accentuated them. Ryan managed brief eye contact with him before fluttering his eyelashes in a way most women would have loved to master. On other people Jonathan would have thought the gesture contrived, Ryan was probably unaware of how adorable it made him look.

“Have I told you how much I love you?”

The words slipped out with Jonathan meaning them to. Ryan’s blush deepened at the admission, before he offered his own response.

“I love you too.”

Jonathan smiled at the answering admission, before pulling Ryan into a second, shorter kiss, curtailed by the remembrance of his pasta sauce. Ryan made a noise of disappointed confusion as he broke the kiss and leapt from the sofa as though he’d been electrocuted, following him to the kitchen to see what his frantic action related to.

“I think my sauce reduced too much.”

Offering his boyfriend, a glimpse of the pan and the burned contents at the bottom Jonathan discarded the whole horrible mess in the bin (pan included). Ryan offered sympathy in the only way he could, hugging him from behind as Jonathan switched off the cooker.

“Well, I suppose we could have a nice hot bath together now and phone for a pizza?”

Sometimes Ryan came up with the best suggestions, even if it were entirely by accident, and a bath together sounded just up Jonathan’s street as something nice and relaxing that could easily be turned into something more fun if Ryan were in the mood to indulge him.

“That sounds amazing, you go run the water, I’ll join you in a second…Hey, do you think we can get away with eating cake in the bath?”

“You have cake?!”

Jonathan had to pry Ryan away from the fridge, where he was attempting to manoeuvre the door open to access the sweet treat inside. Once Ryan had stepped back to allow him access Jonathan opened the fridge, lifting out the plate on which the cake sat, immediately having to go on the defensive as Ryan registered exactly what type of cake it was.

“Are we grown up enough now that we can allow ourselves to have dessert before dinner?”

“Me yes, definitely, you? Jury is still out on that one.”

Jonathan smothered the urge to snort at that one, considering he was currently holding a cake above his head to stop Ryan from snaffling a slice, and his so called “grown up” boyfriend was still trying to grab it out of his hands. Though he wasn’t averse to the idea of eating cake off his boyfriend he’d prefer a single slice rather than Ryan bringing the entire thing down on their heads.

“Time out, or this cake is going to end up on the floor!”

Ryan pouted but stepped back, allowing Jonathan to stow the cake on the side, where Ryan immediately attempted to obtain a taste, earning himself a rap to the knuckles. Following the reprimand, Ryan withdrew, vanishing in the direction of the living room, where Jonathan didn’t doubt, he was making further plans on how best to attack. Not that Jonathan doubted his ability to fend off a frontal assault, but Ryan had proved himself to be crafty when he wanted to be, especially when there was chocolate involved.

Figuring he’d left Ryan unsupervised for long enough, Jonathan cut a sizeable chunk of cake, making sure he took two forks with him (Ryan could get strange about sharing certain things). Returning to the living room he found it empty, after a few checks to make sure that Ryan hadn’t concealed himself somewhere, Jonathan headed in the direction of the bedroom, which led onto the bathroom. His boyfriend had sprawled on the bed, and eyed Jonathan hungrily (or maybe it was just the cake in his hands) from his prone position. Jonathan smothered the urge to snort with laughter, Ryan had somehow managed to pull off both cute and awkward at the same time, even as he watched Ryan rolled onto his side, patting the spot he’d vacated to indicate Jonathan should settle there.

Deciding it would be rude to argue or point out the change in location to their cake eating plans, Jonathan settled on the bed, placing the cake and cutlery between them and making a noise of injured protest and Ryan snagged the first forkful for himself. Mouth full and unable to vocalise his query Ryan settled for raising an eyebrow at the noise.

“I always thought it was more romantic if you fed your partner the cake?”

Ryan chewed thoughtfully, swallowing before answering.

“Maybe, but I’m pretty sure I’d have stabbed you with the fork if I hadn’t got the first bite.”

Which was a good reminder of how unintentionally scary Ryan could be at times. Part of Jonathan didn’t doubt that Ryan could turn nasty over chocolate cake, part of him stirred with interest at the hint of threat in Ryan’s tone, most of him just hoped he’d never actually find out how serious Ryan was being.

“I’ll remember that for the future.”

Ryan took another forkful of the sponge, this time proffering it to Jonathan to wrap his lips round. Tasting the cake Jonathan had to admit he was impressed he’d actually managed a passable version of it. His next thoughts were cut off by the sensation of Ryan pressing their lips together, though by the time he thought to react his boyfriend had already pulled away to await the next mouthful of cake.

From there they settled into a pattern, alternating between mouthfuls of cake and kisses which gradually got deeper and more prolonged, by the time the cake was gone, and Jonathan stored the plate and cutlery somewhere they wouldn’t get in the way of proceedings, it had evolved into teasing touches. Shifting slightly to a more comfortable position Jonathan drew Ryan close to him, pressing a kiss into the juncture of his shoulder and neck, grinning at Ryan’s moan as he applied the scrape of teeth to the sensation.

The buzz of a phone jarred them both quite nastily back to reality. Ryan cursed under his breath at the realisation it was his, digging in his jeans pocket for the device, before pulling it out glaring at it hatefully.

“Remind me to punch Daniel the next time I see him, okay?”

Ryan swiped at something on the screen of his phone and the buzzing ceased, before placing it on the bedside table closest to him, screen down.

“Why?”

Jonathan had to ask, though he feared the next words out of Ryan’s mouth would spell the premature end of their evening together.

“He thought it was hilarious to mess with the alarm on my phone. Set me a reminder to ‘Get Laid’, which just went off.”

“Now there’s an idea I can get behind…”

Jonathan moved to pull Ryan closer and resume where they left off, huffing in frustration when Ryan evaded his initial move and left him with a face full of pillow instead. Before he had time to recover Ryan had straddled him, leaving him pinned face down on the bed.

“Cool your jets Soldier boy, I believe we had a bath together on the cards?”

Unwilling to give up on the idea of intimacy just yet Jonathan whined to indicate his displeasure, not that Ryan seemed to care as he climbed off the bed and headed in the direction of the bathroom. Cursing the mobile that had interrupted them and plotting revenge on Daniel for the next time he wanted some alone time with Alex, Jonathan waited for a moment to see if Ryan would reconsider, before realising that wasn’t on the cards and heading in the direction of the bathroom, hoping that he wouldn’t be expected to take the end with the taps.

One of the things that had attracted Jonathan to the apartment he’d chosen to rent was the bathtub that dominated most of the bathroom, a freestanding affair that he and a couple of army pals had immediately decided stood up to the challenge to see just how many people could fit in at once and had almost resulted in them needing to phone the fire service when that had backfired hideously. Two people were fine though, it just took a while to fill, Ryan had already started to run the water and located the plug, adding bubble bath to the mix so the water was foaming up as it hit the surface. Jonathan didn’t recognise the scent, assuming Ryan had located it in the bathroom cabinet where he tended to store gifts, he was given either by well meaning family members or freebies from the base from people ‘wanting to help the soldiers out’. This smelled of something herbal, not unpleasant, but not something he’d have usually added to his bathing routine.

“It says it’s supposed to soothe tired muscles and help you relax.”

Ryan must have seen his expression, offering him the bottle of whatever he’d added to the water, which Jonathan waved away, before spying the gift tag that must have been attached to the bottle and snagging it. The gift had come from one of his aunts, who’d been sending them as gifts for as long as Jonathan could remember but had never been close enough to be invited to Thanksgivings or Christmas’s growing up. He wondered whether he’d been polite enough to send her a thank you note, probably not, he wouldn’t have considered it important at the time, or assumed his mother would take care of it.

“How are we doing this then?”

Shaking his head to clear it of the thoughts he was surprised to find that Ryan had moved and was opening the window to let the steam wafting from the bath escape, though it had an undesired effect of letting a cool blast of air into the room as well, which they both shuddered at. Suddenly the steaming water looked a lot more inviting, and he was keen to get into it.

“You get in first, then I get in after you, I recommend the end without the taps if you want to be comfortable.”

Ryan didn’t explain further how he intended to make himself comfortable, and Jonathan didn’t press the matter, stripping as quickly as he could, before stepping into the tub and hissing at the heat of the water and resisting the impulse to jump straight out again. Instead, he held himself still to allow himself time to adjust, before increasing the feed of the cold tap so he could lower himself into the water without fear of causing himself injury to more delicate parts of his anatomy. Ryan watched his actions with some displeasure, gathering up his abandoned clothing and dropping it into the laundry hamper, before adding his own to the basket, approaching the bath and climbing in to settle on Jonathan’s lap, so his back was resting against his chest, fiddling with the taps so the water began to heat up again.

“Are you trying to cook us both?”

Jonathan groused without malice, happy to adjust to the change in temperature as long as his boyfriend was happy. Ryan killed the water flow when he was happy with the depth of the water, before settling in place and resting his head back against Jonathan’s shoulder, the strands of his hair ticklish against Jonathan’s skin.

“I like a hot bath. It helps me relax, and it’s been a hell of a day.”

It was rare for Ryan to talk about his work, he was bound by almost as many layers of confidentiality as Jonathan was in his own role, but they sometimes discussed things in more general terms if either of them had encountered anything particularly taxing. Jonathan loved the moments of normality they shared, in-between the number of times they both had to guard their respective secrets and suffer in silence.

“Want to talk about it?”

Ryan gave a hum that sounded like assent, and Jonathan settled back to listen, trying to avoid the impulse to beam with satisfaction.

“Intern screwed up all our control samples. We now have to start from scratch on Monday because it calls the results we were getting into question. So, I get an unintended long weekend. Did you have plans?”

The last part was thrown out so casually Jonathan doubted for a second he’d heard correctly. Then as he comprehended what had been said he ran through his schedule for the next three days mentally, before realising for once they’d managed to align their free time together and he wasn’t expected to report back before Monday afternoon.

“Nope, no plans whatsoever beyond spending it staring at the walls…want to hang out?”

Ryan laughed at the clumsiness of the words, which had made Jonathan question when he’d turned into a teenager again, he was fairly sure the last time he’d invited someone to hang out he’d been fifteen, which had turned awkward when the girl he’d asked had then laughed in his face for his temerity. Hopefully, Ryan would be more considerate of his feelings.

“Would love to. You going to take me to the mall to ‘hang out’?”

The air quotes Ryan dropped round the words indicated how out of date Ryan found the phrase, breaking into laughter before he squealed as Jonathan attacked a ticklish spot in retaliation. Ceasing before Ryan’s squirming either did him an injury or had another effect, Jonathan wrapped his arms round Ryan in a hug as he settled back in the water to plan just how they could fill their free time.

There was a lot they could get up to in seventy-two hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos keep me going, so interpret that as you will and respond accordingly. :)


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